THE PROHIBITION ERA

COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILDRENI


We have now entered the era of prohibition and collective punishment. The era of the ban, the boycott, the do not walk on the grass, -let alone smoke it, culture. The default position of so many on the left respecting ideas they don’t like is try and silence those who hold them. This takes the form of the  ‘No platform,' movement.
 Whilst governments seek to police all aspects of our lives from what we say on Twitter to what we choose to take in order to mood alter. Mood altering of course becoming increasingly popular as society becomes steadily more puritan.
This week saw another low point, though I fear there is no stopping this escalator now, it is in free-fall. The success of the smoking ban having gone to their head the Welsh government, on the basis of zero evidence, intends to legislate to  prohibit vaping. This on the same basis as that it has prohibited smoking. The sheer irrationality of this ban is clearly demonstrated by Simon Jenkins in the Guardian. This move closely follows on from the governments stated intention to make the use of all existing ‘legal highs’ illegal, with suitable exemptions, of course, for caffeine, alcohol and tobacco. Again on the basis of limited evidence and as a consequence of hysterical newspaper campaigns from the likes of the Sunday People. Such hysteria of course preventing any serious discussion of a sensible policy on mood altering substances, combined with the pretence that taking substances to alter your perception and relationship to the world is a minority pursuit. 
The mantra constantly chanted about such measures is that they are designed to ‘protect children.’ This is a novel way to run any society, Victorian Britain turned on its head. Thus every aspect of life is to be managed in the interest of minors. Only of course this is not so, otherwise we would not be feeding our children copious amounts of sugar, fattening them up like pigs for the slaughter. Nor would we persistently and systematically turn a blind eye when they are groomed, sexually exploited and raped.
 No, collective punishment for the sake of the children is as phony as a bookmakers commiserations respecting your losses. It is manufactured distraction and the exercise of political power for the sake of it. They ban because they can.
The same is true of the various other prohibitions, [1] the alcohol free zones in parks and open spaces or the ban on booze in the tube on buses and some train services. In this case it is argued that all must be punished because of the behaviour of a small minority.No longer bothering to properly police these areas they opt for a blanket ban instead.
 I feel weary of rehearsing arguments I have already made elsewhere, however anyone who is drunk in a park or public square, especially if abusing other users of such communal spaces,- throwing cans or pissing on the grass- would already be committing an offence. Hitherto someone sitting on a park bench reading a book whilst taking an occasional swig of beer from a can was not.
The declaration of alcohol free green spaces has been presented as a civilising measure, and some will undoubtedly welcome it as such. In reality it represents the growing power of the puritan lobby, the humourless and priggish brigade of censors, control freaks and would be legislators of all our behaviour, who are steadily eroding the basis of a civilised and tolerant civic society.

II

HALLMARKS OF THE NEW 'ENLIGHTENMENT'




Perhaps the most shocking extension of the prohibition mind-set has been its emergence into academic life, as a new ‘politically correct’ culture has invaded the campuses, arriving with all the language of restriction. This is the culture of the boycott, the ‘no platform for…..’ and the squeamish demand for a ‘safe space,’ an area where unpleasant or unsettling ideas are prohibited. Again I have written about this before. However this new inquisition of the left is no longer content with silencing those it finds disagreeable, – the idea of actual debating difficult, challenging or  objectionable ideas long being ruled out as repugnant,-  but wishes them made unemployable, pariahs, outcasts outside the pale of civilised society.[2]

We now live on the edge of a new 'anti-enlightenment,' as Mark Steyn frames it in his book, ‘Lights Out,’ quoting the former British Foreign Secretary Lord Grey "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time." ‘Today the lights our going out on liberty in the Western World in a more subtle, elusive and more profound way.’

How long before we see books burnt? Well the news is it’s already happened:

‘They also decided to burn the [SWP] cult’s literature outside the student union – in the upside down world of student politics book and newspaper burning is a hallmark of enlightenment.’




[1] I exempt aspects of the smoking ban, in enclosed spaces for example, since there is some scientific basis for this prohibition. However why smoking should be banned on the area open to all the elements of Wolverhampton Station is beyond me. 
[2] This is just one example of dozens I had to choose from. Nor is this kind of heresy hunting confined to the left, see http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/11/09/christian-group-calls-for-sacking-of-gay-winchester-professor/ The driving motive is always the same, not mere objection to someone’s idea but an objection to them enjoying any sort of paid employment or social standing.

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